Gene....I don't know the V/N cartridge, but any new cartridge will dramatically change after being played on a few albums. Follow the designer's directions....if it sounds bad, remember it will sound good with a bit of time.

finally got around to mounting mine (it's been a crazy summer) and initial impressions are that the cartridge sounds great but I'm having problems with tracking (which I never had with the same set up and Hana SL). It's actually skipping on records that I've never had problems with, and I can't get decent anti-skate performance (just by twisting the wire) using the hi-fi news test record. One thing I've noticed is the cantilever seems to move laterally very freely (when riding the grooves). Has anyone else noticed this? I'm wondering if it's a particularly compliant suspension or if I'm just noticing it because the cantilever is way out there on its own compared to other cartridges I've had. Tomorrow I'll start all over with alignment and see if I can get it sorted.

I think 33+1third brings up very important additional data points: the length of the arm and the VTF.

With a 12-inch arm, the extra inertia may mean there's less need for the mechanical anti-skate.

And I think HW/VPI noted: if you're twisting the wire, then increase the VTF by 0.1 gram. I can't quite remember where I read this.

(So: if you have a 12-inch arm, and set slightly higher the VTF, you may be fine with the twisted wire approach.)

I have the 10-inch 3D arm, and I have the Soundsmith Zephyr MIMC* cartridge, at manufacturer's max. recommended VTF (not higher). I definitely need the mechanical anti-skate. I can hear the improvement as I dial in the right amount of anti-skate.

No experience with the longer arms, but my 3-D 10 inch did not like a full turn of the wire for anti-skate. So I compromised so the wire just begins to exert a force half way through a record. With that as a starting point I then added mechanical anti-skate so it’s working at the outer grooves of a record. You might try that. The idea is to get more force working at the inner groves. Another thought, your cart may be sensitive to resonance from the finger lift. Mine was. I removed it and put some clay (1.1gm) on the top of the arm behind the mounting screws. To me this was a definite improvement. Better on every record I played tonight!Edit:Make sure your cartridge mounting screws are not very tight. That will cause sonic problems. I learned that the hard way. Just remember to check them every once in a while, they do tend to get looser with use.

no anti skate with mine. I have a Classic 2 that came with a classic 3 arm. I decided to keep the.4 sent in error for the 8. Took a little time and tweaking and it's sounding much better than when it first arrived. I also took apart all my gear and rack and rebuilt everything to remove the empty shelves that I had after adding the Vinnie Rossi LIO integrated and selling off my MAC gear.You never know how that can also improve sound by reconnecting with everything cold and powered down, cleaning everything up, repositiong, etc.

spoke to Steve, and after talking some more he said my arm (older JMW 10) needed the set screw lowered, which I had already been thinking about because it seemed to be riding low back by the weights. Voila. I'm still tweaking the set up but it sounds great and is tracking great.